Category Archives: Uncategorized

Toronto is 10-15 years behind the rest of the world when it comes to food and drink trends. This is a statement I often hear from people in the industry. A recent NOW magazine cover story declared that Toronto is a city of copycats when it comes to culinary trends. We’re too obsessed with what we’re missing out on to be truly innovative. This too is true when it comes to our beer. We’ve recently started making dry-hopped sours, though they’ve been available in the US for 14 years. Granted, this is due to the prolific nature of New Belgium’s experimentation, as the rest of the world caught on years later. Continue reading →

I joined Toastmasters last month, because I want to get good at public speaking for my next job. Even if I don’t end up speaking on stage in front of large groups of people, I want to be decent at it. Toastmasters is a club that allows you to do just that: get good at public speaking through weekly challenges. Your first speech, also known as the Icebreaker, is a simple introduction to who you are and what you’re into. What better opportunity to talk about one of my greatest passions: craft beer. Here’s the speech I gave this last week. Continue reading →

There’s this beer at Halo called Wit or Without. It’s a ginger lime witbier with smoked malts, and is drawing attention to an interesting phenomenon. Some people think it’s perfectly balanced, and it’s one of their favourite beers at the brewery (I’m in this camp). Others think it’s too ginger predominant. Others can’t taste the ginger. Others can’t taste the smoked malt. Others think it tastes like soap, even “fresh Band-Aid.” What is going on? Continue reading →

“You’ve probably heard that old adage that every person has at least one good book in them — I believe in something grander than that. I believe that every great person, has at least one great beer in them.” I love Sam Calagione.

Together with Italian chef Mario Batali, he brews a citrus tomato Pruno (a prison alcoholic beverage that beer writer Ben T. Johnson is rumoured to have started his career with). Enjoy.

If there’s one thing the beer community loves as much as drinking beer, it’s taking photos of beer and sharing them online. I’ve been following many epic Beerstagrammers for some time. Most of them are American; they tempt me with their endless selection of phenomenal beers they get in the states. I’ll be sharing one of my faves every month here.

mbeach717

Indiana’s 3 Floyds Brewing Co. is doubling the size of their brewery, and including a no doubt badass distillery (which Dogfish got on over a decade ago). “We don’t really have competition. We make what we make, and can’t make enough of it,” says founder Nick Floyd. 3 Floyds is a great example of a brewery with extreme marketing done solely through their branding and art. I hope to visit this adult playground of a brewery one day, and I know they’ll have a large barrel aged selection by then. Ah, beer nerds in their element.

The origin story behind their name is pretty cool too: The ancient Sumerians worshipped the beer they made and praised the Goddess Ninkasi for the miracle of fermentation. As one of the first-known communities, the Sumerians began to forgo hunting and gathering for an agrarian existence, establishing the first foundations of modern civilization. They understood the value of beer in their communities and relied on the brewery as a pillar and hub of social connectivity. Additionally, beer and the fermentation process provided potable water, nourishment, health, and joy. It was the catalyst for written language and education; all valuable contributors to an evolved quality of life and living.

Budweiser got some major attention this Super Bowl Sunday thanks to their infamous ads, and I’m not talking about the horses. People can’t seem to stop talking about Budweiser’s cute puppies and anti-craft sentiment. Yet if you look at their Twitter page, there’s no sign of controversy:

Contrast this with the hundreds (soon to be thousands) of craft beer supporters calling out Budweiser on their bullshit.

In the ad, Budweiser makes fun of “Pumpkin Peach Ale,” which happens to be a beer Elysian makes, one of the craft breweries Budweiser’s AB InBev recently acquired.

It seems to me that Budweiser is taking a page out of the Unilever hypocrisy book, the company who makes men want to buy Axe to seem irresistible to modelesque women, and then tries to empower women to love their aging bodies through Dove ads. The Budweiser ad does seem aggressively defensive though, in a way that speaks volumes above any pro-Bud marketing: AB InBev is worried about what craft beer’s popularity means for their mass-produced tasteless beer. That’s why they’re buying craft breweries and investing in craft-themed marketing. Their latest ad might be more hurtful than helpful though: it’s divisive for both the craft community and their own company.

I recently asked my friends which beer they would choose if they were confined to drink just one beer for the rest of their days (which, for the sake of this poll, is just one beer style). Choose your beer, group it under style, and let me know the specific beer in the comments.

Out of 27 of my beer friends surveyed, 10 chose an APA/IPA, five chose a saison/wheat beer, four chose a brown ale, three chose a trappist ale, two chose a red ale, two chose a lager and one vinale-loving beer blogger chose Rodenbach Grand Cru for life (guess which one)!